Is it bad to stay in drive if I am at lights etc!

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krisg1, Aug 11, 9:20am
Is it bad to stay in drive if I am at lights etc! Should I go into N!
rob_man, Aug 11, 9:21am
No, it's OK to leave it in Drive.
v8_mopar, Aug 11, 9:24am
Its ok to but you use less gas if you dont and if you get shunted from behind you cant hit the gas by mistake and need up driving under a truck going 50kmph
shane038, Aug 11, 9:45am
Not to mention the wear and tear each time it engages the clutch packs from neutral to drive.
sr2, Aug 11, 9:58am
Stay in drive, you'll be fine.
msigg, Aug 11, 10:02am
Stay in drive, otherwise you might as well have a manual gearbox.
pollymay, Aug 11, 10:05am
I like to pull up to the lights and rev in neutral. Then when it goes green I neutral dump and skidz it up. All you fullaz r pussies, it's gud 4 it bro
v8_mopar, Aug 11, 10:11am
Theres lots of good resons to use your auto like a manual. the most important is being in the right gear at the right time is safer. good for towing, going up step hills, cornering fast, slowing down without so much nose dive etc
tuttyclan, Aug 11, 10:18am
Leave it in drive, after all its automatic isn't it.
crzyhrse, Aug 11, 10:27am
Better to leave in drive.
grangies, Aug 11, 7:38pm
Not a viable option these days.

Manual vehicles are becoming few and far between.
richardmayes, Aug 11, 7:41pm
It won't damage the transmission if you leave it in "Drive". In theory you are heating up the oil in the torque converter the whole time, but in practise this never seems to matter.

I believe it's far better practise to put it into neutral and put the handbrake on, same as you would in a manual.

(It's better for everyone else's safety to do this. If you get shunted from behind, the handbrake starts braking instantly. You won't, if all you're doing is keeping your foot on the brake pedal just hard enough to hold your car against wanting to creep forward in first gear.)
klrider, Aug 11, 7:46pm
as long as you dont fall asleep
elect70, Aug 11, 11:14pm
Well having seen so many jap importtranswith burnt fluid the 2autos ive ever had Ialways put in n at the lights , there is load on it there fore heat& unless you have a trans temperature gauge you wont know .My old VL commy did 300 K without a trans rebuild & I did a lit of towing with it
scotthurst01, Aug 11, 11:36pm
I knew I wasn't the only one that done this!
v8_mopar, Aug 11, 11:38pm
I have a 98 Nissan 1.5L auto that's done 250,000 k's has never been serviced (the auto) and has always been used like a manual. Still going strong!

Seen a mate one time stuff his tho. Was going full tit backwards, about 55-60 k's, in his Nissan bluebird then dropped it into drive and did the meanest burnout I have ever seen a bluebird do. Week later it was stuffed!
crzyhrse, Aug 12, 12:24am
Care to extrapolate on that!
crzyhrse, Aug 12, 2:53am
I understand and agree. It makes little difference to wear as to whether you manually downshift an automatic before a corner or the transmission automatically does it at the slower exit speed once the you reapply throttle except that you much spend less time on your brakes.
richardmayes, Aug 12, 4:26am
Obviously if you are coming down from an alpine pass, you want to drive in a way that minimises the risk of fading the brakes above everything else. But giving your transmission a constant workout all day every day on ordinary roads just to prolong the life of the brake pads and rotors seems like a VERY false economy, surely!

In Rotorua the council runs a whole fleet of little automatic Mitsubishi Rosa buses.
Apparently one of the drivers is known as "Gearbox" to his mates because he insists on manually clicking the automatic all the way down thru the gears to first, every corner (or red light) he approaches, to get as much engine braking as he possibly can out of each and every gear. It is bloody horrible for the passengers by all accounts!

And apparently, the one particular Mitsubishi Rosa that most often gets assigned to be driven by "Gearbox" is the one that needed its first transmission overhaul hundreds of thousands of km before all of the others did.
v8_mopar, Aug 12, 4:30am
^^^^^^^ good in a car tho. nice and smooth
crzyhrse, Aug 12, 4:39am
It gets a 'workout' (meaning it changes gear) either way. Comfort would be a factor though as some automatic transmissions have a horrible manual changedown effect.

I only do it if towing.
sanders4, Aug 12, 10:34am
If in drive at lights and shunted in ass you will be crucified , common sense says use hand brake and if you intend to be siiting for a while then leave in neutral, same as manual gear box who on earth would be keeping clutch depressed forever!
crzyhrse, Nov 21, 10:17am
You see, your problem is that you clearly have absolutely no idea whatsoever of how an automatic transmission works.

Sorry for the dredge - stumbled across this when looking for something else.
socram, Nov 21, 8:09pm
I usually put it in neutral.Spend so much time waiting at traffic lights around here that it gives me something to do and stops me falling asleep.
It means you can also relax your feet/ankles. I too believe that in the event of a rear end accident (or God forbid, a heart attack), it is safer.
morrisjvan, Nov 21, 9:00pm
It is an automatic, let it do it's thing automatically.If you will be stationary for a while e.g traffic jam you could put it in N, but for normal driving you just leave it in D.